Nixon details health-care idea

Thursday

Jan 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 29, 2009 at 5:43 PM

Jenna Youngs

Gov. Jay Nixon visited the University of Missouri's Sinclair School of Nursing this morning to provide details about his Caring for Missourians program, which he discussed Tuesday in his State of the State address.

Caring for Missourians would provide $39.8 million to two- and four-year colleges and universities from the state's 2010 budget to provide health-care training for future nurses, doctors and other health professionals. Nixon said in a news conference there could be as many as 916 additional graduates from health-related programs entering the work force after the program's first four years. He also said as many as 521 nurses and 31 physicians would receive degrees in four years if the program is funded.

Nixon's budget suggestions are subject to approval by the General Assembly. He acknowledged having to make some "very difficult" budget-cut decisions because of the economic recession, but he said he is confident Caring for Missourians will pass the state legislature because the program will create jobs. Nixon said that in an economic crisis where some 219,000 Missourians are unemployed, health-care fields are understaffed.

A similar program called Preparing to Care was proposed last year by former Gov. Matt Blunt but failed to win legislative approval. Nixon said he plans to fully fund the initiative, exceeding Blunt's proposal. Blunt proposed about $13 million for Preparing to Care in his 2009 budget, although former interim UM System President Gordon Lamb asked for about $38 million when he introduced the initiative.

"My predecessor did not put anything in the budget to this level," Nixon said. "We're also making the argument that it's economical to make jobs. We have the jobs" in health-care fields, "but we don't have the people to fill those jobs. ? We've got the brains and bodies here. We need to put structure and the support of the state around them."

Donna Otto, a clinical instructor of nursing at MU, said she has seen "a lot" of nursing shortages in her more than 30 years of working at MU, but "this shortage is like nothing we've ever seen before."

Roxanne McDaniel, associate dean of nursing, said the university has to turn away more than 150 applicants each year because it lacks funds for more faculty and better facilities.

"As faculty, it breaks our hearts to turn students away," Otto said. "They're our future. They will be at our bedsides as we continue to age. ? The aging population demands an increased work force" in health-care fields. "They're a vulnerable population that needs care."

MU Chancellor Brady Deaton said providing additional resources to universities to train health-care professionals would benefit urban and rural areas. "There's a vital need" to meet "patient needs across the state," he said. "It's one of our very highest priorities."